


Revealing a Jedi

by Kila9Nishika



Series: Becoming [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: AU, Canon-Typical Violence, Re-Imagining of Canon, Trans Character, i guess not, lots of traveling, this was supposed to be the last one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-18
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-03-31 02:55:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3961795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kila9Nishika/pseuds/Kila9Nishika
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How many ways can you locate yourself?<br/>(Or, how to come out to the entire freaking universe as a trans Jedi who is trying to take down the Empire.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Revealing a Jedi

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for characters being possessed by both creepy and friendly ancestors

**Beside Three Moons**

He told Leia that she was his sister as Ahsoka and Chewie carefully dragged the _Millenium Falcon_ into Tatooine's orbit. It was simultaneously a relief from secret-keeping, and simply out of self-defense. Leia might have spent her adult life learning physical control, but her Force shields were unraveling dangerously.

"What's the plan?" Ahsoka strode into the main area of the Falcon with a faintly worried expression on her face. "Jabba's hold on this dirtball has only gotten worse since you left four years ago."

Luke frowned. "I want to say that Han is the first priority, but there's a bigger problem."

Ahsoka followed his gaze, and winced. Leia, subject to the attention of the ship's entire occupancy (including the droids), scowled.  "What?"

Luke opened his mouth, thought better of it, and sighed.  Ahsoka rolled her eyes.  “You’re a Skywalker, Leia.  Just as Force-sensitive as your brother.”

Leia paled.  “I’m - but - I don’t -”

“You need to learn to meditate,” Ahsoka continued, her voice firm.  “I’d teach you, but Luke’s the one with a Jedi Master whispering in his ear.”

_“I am sorry, Ahsoka.”_  Ben shifted closer to the former Jedi, and reached out with one incorporeal hand.  “ _I am so sorry._ ”

Luke frowned.  “So, I guess we should plan to set down someplace quiet.  Near Ben’s old place, maybe?  There’s no real landing area, but the _Falcon_ doesn’t need one, anyway.”  He turned to Leia.  “You’re smart, it shouldn’t take more than a week to teach you to meditate and shield.  As soon as we have that done, we can plan out negotiations with Jabba.”

“I _hate_ negotiating with that Hutt,” Ahsoka mumbled.  Chewie, who had simply observed up until that point, roared his agreement.

“We need to at least _try_ negotiation first,” Luke replied, pinching his nose.  He could practically feel Tatooine’s presence, and it was a bitter feeling of homecoming - he had tried so _hard_ to escape this planet.

Ahsoka’s lips twitched.  “Start with negotiations, move on to _aggressive_ negotiations, I suppose.  Just like old times.”

Luke wished he could tell Ahsoka just how soppy Ben looked at that moment.   _“Oh, Ahsoka, I resemble that remark.”_

“Ben is feeling nostalgic,” Luke said, after a moment.  Ahsoka blinked, and shook her head.  

“Well,” she hummed, turning to head towards the control room, “He was always the one who tried negotiating and ended up with aggressive negotiations.”

Chewie followed her out the door, but Luke was too focused on Ben to notice - the ghost was pointing a comically offended finger after Ahsoka.

_“That was always Anakin, not me!”_

 

**Beneath Two Suns**

It was more difficult to teach Leia than Luke had first assumed.  Ben spent the whole time attempting to help, but there was only so much that he could do when Luke was the only one who could see or hear him.

By the third day, Ahsoka and Chewie had made friends with a great deal of locals, but Leia was still having problems.

“It’s pointless!” Leia declared, falling backwards from her seated position to lie on the sand.  “No matter what I do, I never get it!”

Luke shook his head.  “You were actually really close, that time,” he said.  “One or two times more, and I think that you’ll have it.”

“And then we move on to this _shielding_ thing, which is supposed to be even harder!  And you did this when you were _how_ old?” Leia demanded, looking put-upon.

“Six,” Luke stated.  “But, Ben said that, in the old days, Jedi learned to meditate and shield before they even got that old.  And you’ve just about got meditating, so shielding should only be another three or four days.”

Leia sat up, and pouted.  It looked strange on her normally aristocratic face.  “And how long did it take you?”

“Four months,” Luke admitted.  “But I was six.  You’re twenty-five.  Presumably, you have a greater attention span than I did as a six-year-old.”

Leia snorted, and shut her eyes, her breathing evening out.  “If you say so.”

After a moment of silence, Luke took a look at Leia’s progress in the Force, and smiled.  He had been right - _this_ time, she had gotten it on the first try.

After a handful of minutes, Luke decided that it was time to discuss the next step.  “Leia,” he began softly.  “Can you hear me?”

Leia hummed, sounding more relaxed than Luke had ever heard her.  “Yes.”

“It’s time to come back, now, Leia.”  Luke stretched out his Force senses, projecting a feeling of safety.  “You can always return to this feeling, now that you have found it.”

Leia hummed again, but suddenly her Force presence changed.  Her entire body stiffened, and she began to choke and gasp.  Alarmed, Luke grabbed at his sister’s hands.

“Leia!”

Leia ripped herself from his grasp, and stood, kicking up a large amount of sand.  “I - sh - I - am -”  Her voice sounded tense and raw, with an echoing quality that sounded almost as if there were multiple voices speaking at once.  “I - am -” she stiffened again, her shoulders drawing back and her eyes opening sightlessly.  Her next words were audibly _wrong_ \- Luke knew, immediately, that whoever was speaking, it _wasn’t_ Leia.

“I am the desert, the mother of this life, the mother of this land.  I -” Leia choked again, for a moment, and a slightly different voice pushed through.  “Let - she's not - let me _speak!_ ”  The choral voice returned, overcoming the more ordinary voice that had briefly won out.  “I am your mother, the mother of your line, Tutaana -”

“They won't know you!”  Leia suddenly cried, the voice of someone else breaking through again.  “I - I am -”  Leia shook her head, and tears began to well in her eyes.  “I -”

The new voice - gentler than the choral voice identified as Tutaana - spoke once again.  “Hush. Hush, darling, I'll keep you safe.”

Luke, one hand on his lightsaber (mostly for comfort - how was he supposed to defend against a being _possessing_ his sister?), found his own voice.  “Who are you?”

“I am Shmi, Luke,” the voice declared.  “Leia.”  She sounded both caring, and sad.  “Your grandmother, and the last daughter of Tutaana before -”

Leia’s face shifted, her eyes focusing and her eyebrows drawing downwards in anger.  “Me!” she snapped.  “Why me?  Why can't you talk through Luke?  He is the one who knows all of this Force stuff!”

Luke was beginning to see the difference between Tutaana, whose presence stiffened and controlled Leia’s entire body, and Shmi, who was beginning to seem more like a cloak of presence that Leia was wearing.

“Leia, Luke is _male_.”  Shmi sounded faintly amused.  “I could no more speak through him than a Wookiee.”

“Why this, then?” Leia demanded.  “Why now?”

Luke coughed.  “Um, Leia’s right, Lady Shmi. Why now, when we are about to go rescue Han?”  

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, Luke winced.  Tutaana had clearly returned, stiffening every muscle in Leia’s body.

“It must be now!” the being declared.   “I am the desert!  I am the mother!  I am -”

Leia’s head rolled back, and Shmi’s voice interrupted.  “If I _may_ speak!”

For a long moment, Leia simply stood, gasping for air.  Luke found himself thankful that Shmi was there, at least attempting to shield Leia from the worst effects of Tutaana.  He was beginning to realize that Tutaana was an incredibly powerful being - something that would swiftly overwhelm and destroy poor Leia, who was still terribly untrained in matters of the Force.

“If the people of this sector are to be freed from the Hutts,” Shmi said softly, as if to ease a sore throat, “it must be now. And I spoke to you because you are the children of the Great Three - the desert, the water, and the Force. If you would break the grasp of Darkness in this galaxy, you must break its grasp on your three sources - here, the desert. Then, the water. Finally, the Force.”

Luke’s thoughts whirled - three sources?  Was this some type of prophecy?  A different one from the one that Ben knew about?

“I must tell you this,” Shmi continued, “or the Voice of the Desert will. And Leia, you are not ready for that, as you experienced. Do you understand?”

Leia huffed, her voice a bit more ragged than before.  “And how is this going to help us?”

Luke winced.  That was decidedly _not_ how one spoke to an incredibly powerful being taking up residence in one’s skull.  “Ah, Leia means to say -”

Shmi laughed.  “I need no explanations, Luke. I gave birth to her father, and yours, after all.  I can't say I know why I must tell you this. Only that if I don't, I shall as one of the Voice of the Desert.  She-I began as Tutaana, Walker in the Sky for the Tribe of the Great Desert. I continued as my daughter, Anyaana, and my daughter, Eliisa.  I was torn from my home, but I called to my own, and five hundred generations after I was torn from myself, I was called home in my form as Shmi Skywalker.”  She stopped, scowling.  “That is to say, I returned to Tatooine, and found my place as the latest Skywalker of Tatooine.  Sorry.  Once you become part of the collective…” she shook Leia’s head.  “It becomes difficult to remember individuality.”

Luke lifted one hand.  “Wait.  So, our family is part of a line of Force-sensitive priestesses of a semi-sentient desert planet.  And we have to break the hold that Jabba has on the planet.  Is that it?”

Shmi lifted one of Leia’s shoulders, and gave off a feeling of immense exhaustion.  “I do not know, Luke.  Only that the darkness must be broken, and the desert must be freed.”

Ben suddenly appeared.   _“Catch her!”_

Startled, Luke was about to ask Ben about his whereabouts, when Leia suddenly sagged, and toppled over.  Catching his sister, Luke scanned her with both vision and the Force.

The presence, both of Tutaana and Shmi, had vanished.  Leia was herself again.

 

**On One Desert**

Their plans blew up in their faces.   _All_ of their plans, despite careful plotting, three backup plans, and a dead Jedi who knew _way_ too much about Jabba the Hutt.

Standing in line for execution, with one more plan up his sleeve, Luke couldn’t help but wish that Ahsoka would _stop swearing across the Force_.  It was extremely distracting.

But the final plan had pulled off without a hitch, and it took barely a breath to send himself into the meditative state that made awareness of one’s surroundings easy.  This plan was the chanciest of their plans, and had the greatest potential to go fatally wrong.

Luke kicked a bounty hunter towards the Sarlaac, and shoved Han onto a speeder that Ahsoka had stolen as she flew by.

_Oh yeah!  And I_ owe _you, bastard!  Try leering at my friends from the stomach of a Sarlaac!_

Luke winced.   _Ahsoka, you’re projecting again._

_So?_

He felt a burst of satisfaction from Leia, and then -

The sand shuddered, and twisted into the sky - an instant sandstorm -

_IT IS DONE!_

Luke flinched - even the droids flinched, which meant that this was not just a Force shout -

_I AM THE DESERT, AND I SAY: IT IS DONE!_

Luke swore.   _Ahsoka, get to Leia!  The ancestral desert-thing is possessing her, and she can’t handle it!_

_On it - KARKING SITHSPIT!_

Ahsoka’s expletive-laden exclamation was probably the correct response to what had just happened - some overly-lucky bounty hunter had just gotten a ridiculously improbable shot at the speeder, which was beginning to loose altitude directly over the Sarlaac.

_I AM THE DESERT, AND I SAY: IT IS TIME!_

There wasn’t enough _time_ \- Luke grabbed a nearby bounty hunter, removed his head, and stole his jetpack.  Ahsoka and Han were falling, he had to get to Leia, there wasn’t enough _time_ -

Something enormous and ship-sized roared into the mix, neatly scooping up Ahsoka and Han.  

Since Ahsoka wasn’t swearing up a storm in his head, Luke was going to assume that it was an unexpected ally and go get Leia.  Judging by the flying limbs, Chewie could hold his own long enough for the mysterious rescuer to pick him up, too.

Luke landed on Jabba’s crashing Sail Barge and dashed through the rapidly fleeing people.  “Leia!”   _Leia!_  “Where are you?!”

If he hadn’t still been in battle-mode, (oh, he was going to have nightmares about this later,) Luke wouldn’t have heard Leia’s hoarse reply through the panicking mob.

“He-elp m-e…”

Outside, the swirling (unnatural) sandstorm was slowly shaping itself into a giant woman (oh, Force, a giant woman made of SAND).  Inside, Leia was curled up beside Jabba’s still-warm corpse, clutching her knees to her chest and making a terrible whining noise in the back of her throat.

_Help me…_

_I AM THE DESERT_

Luke crouched beside his sister.  “How do I help you?”   _How can I help, Leia, please, how?_

Leia’s eyes were precisely the same color as the sands of Tatooine.

“Give - them - freedom -”

_Give them life._

Luke grabbed Leia’s hands, and ignored every logical thing he had ever learned from Yoda about people with Force-mental problems.  Leia was his _sister_ , the only family he _knew_ that he had who wasn’t completely insane (Dark).   Gathering his mind into a tiny, neat ball, Luke threw himself into Leia’s mind.

_I AM THE DESERT!_

_Yeah, fine, but Leia_ isn’t _.  Not yet.  Let her go!_

_IT IS TIME!  IT IS DONE!  I MUST BE FREED FROM THE ABOMINATION OF SLAVERY!_

_Great_.  Luke could practically taste the sarcasm in his mental voice.  He seemed to have been infected by the negotiating school of Obi-Wan Kenobi - sarcasm them to death.   _But you’re enslaving Leia in the process.  Let her_ go!

_SHE IS MINE!  SHE IS OURS!  SHE IS ONE OF MANY!  SHE WILL FREE THE DESERT!_

_Go ahead,_ Luke retorted.   _Free the desert.  But don’t use Leia - she’s not ready, it’ll kill her!_

_NOT - SHE IS MINE!  SHE IS THE ONLY!  THE LAST!  WITHOUT HER - HOW CAN THE DESERT BE FREED?_

“Like this.”

Abruptly, Luke was catapulted from Leia’s mind.  Shaking, Leia clung to him, her eyes now back to their normal dark brown.  “What?”

Swirling beside them, and cloud of sand began to take on a more substantial shape.  Coalescing, the cloud took on some color, and set two not-quite-there feet on the Sail Barge floor.  

“Free the desert like this!” the mysteriously appearing woman said, lifting her chin in a way that was much like the way Leia did.  Her voice sounded oddly familiar…

_“FREE THE DESERT -_ through me!”  Her eyes, golden and swirling, focused on Luke and Leia for a brief moment.  “Run, darlings.  I’ll miss you!”

The sand thickened in the air, and the woman (who looked and sounded terribly familiar) lifted her head.  “ _FREE THE DESERT - THE TIME IS NOW!_ ”

Falling from the Sail Barge, Luke swore gratefully (and painfully) when cold metal hit his back for the second time in six months.  Their mysterious ally had saved their asses.

_Oh....Luke?  Tell Obi-Wan...thanks._

 

**Beneath Two Moons**

“And did I not tell you, that I am the _only_ being in the known universe who is allowed to kill you?!”

Luke opened his eyes.  If this whole falling and being caught by spaceships thing was going to be a habit, he really needed a steel-reinforced spine.

“Sithspit, Sajji, it’s not like I did it on purpose!”

That was Ahsoka’s voice.  Now, if only he could get his eyes to focus…

“After all of the times that I tried to kill you, I should think that you wouldn’t need to be reminded!”

The Force presences in the room were clear.  Ahsoka, arguing, Leia, sleeping, Han, observing and bemused, Chewie, amused, unknown being (probably female), furious and terrified.

“We had plenty of good, solid plans, and there was no reason for me to think -”

“Clearly!  I had hoped that you had learned from the _less_ sane of your two Masters, but clearly -”

“That is _not_ fair -”

Luke blinked, and his eyes finally focused.  The unknown person (their mysterious ally?) was tall, pale, and had the distinct look of someone who had just done a great deal of worrying.  Her hair was short, thin, and white, and her clothing was utilitarian more than anything else.

She also had strong, Grey-flavored mental shields, and was wearing a lightsaber.

“Who - what happened?”

Every waking being in the room promptly turned to stare at him.  Ahsoka forced a fake-looking smile on her face.  

“Everything’s fine!  We’re all safe, the most injuries anyone got was your renewed back injury, Han’s recovering from the carbonite, and I got to hash things out with an old friend!”

“Like drocking _hell_ you haar’chak floob!” the pale woman snapped, storming out of the room.  Ahsoka’s smile faded.

“Sorry.”  Ahsoka slumped slightly, rubbing the back of her neck.  “Sajji is one of my closest friends.  She’s just upset because she’s the only one who’s allowed to kill me, according to her.”

“And how many times has she tried to kill you?” Han asked, looking slightly worried.  “We _are_ on her ship.”

Ahsoka shrugged, sitting down on the bed that Luke had been sleeping on.  “Oh, about three hundred forty-four.  Or was it forty-six?  I’d have to ask her if that thing on Mimban counted as one time or three…”

Han leaned heavily against the wall, his eyes wide.  “Holy kriffin’ hells, we’re on the ship of _Asajj Ventress_ and you didn’t _warn us?_ ”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes.  “She’s not going to kill _you guys_ , especially Luke and Leia.  I think she feels kinda like an evil fairy-godmother for them, ‘cause of all the times she tried to kill me ‘n Anakin ‘n Master Kenobi.”

Han groaned.  “Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for the save, and the ride to Sullust, but seriously?  Ahsoka, you and the Skywalkers have a messed up life.”

 

**Amidst Many Plots**

“I’ve been thinking that I should go back to visit Master Yoda,” Luke said, staring out one of the windows at the terrible lava flows of Sullust.

_Oh?_  Ben made a fairly good imitation of seating himself beside Luke on the bench.   _Any reason why?_

Luke gathered his thoughts.  “Well, you did say that he wasn’t getting any better than he was when I left.  And he might know what Grandmother meant by ‘freeing the water.’  Exactly what _did_ you teach her, Ben?  She turned into a Force-ghost made out of sand!”

Ben looked away.   _Just a few manifestation techniques...nothing major.  I never met Shmi before she died, but she_ was _your grandmother.  A formidable woman.  She would have made a good Jedi_.

“Ben, you could blow up a _planet_ and call it nothing major!”  Luke stood up, frustrated.  “And you think that _everyone_ would make a good Jedi!  Don’t think I didn’t notice you talking to Asajj when Ahsoka and Leia weren’t looking!”

_She seems to have softened with age.  Either that, or she’s friendlier once you’re dead._

Luke shook his head.  “And I know that I’m not dealing with my emotions well, but I don’t think that anyone except _maybe_ Master Yoda would be if they were trapped with all of these crazy people who want to use politics and plots to defeat the Emperor!”

_Not all forms of negotiation are evil.  You know that_.

“I do,” Luke admitted.  “I just hate sitting around like some primed blaster, waiting for someone to aim me.  Han and Ahsoka and Asajj have been off flying all over the place for months, and I’m still stuck here because I’m their token Jedi.  I mean, didn’t _anyone_ notice that Ahsoka and Asajj _both_ carry lightsabers?”  He took a deep breath.  “It’s silly, to get upset about this.  I just think - Leia is reverting to what she’s used to, and I can barely get her attention through all of the politicking.”

_And you’re lonely_ , Ben said patiently.   _Loneliness is not shameful, Luke._

Luke bit his lip, and sat back down on the bench, burying his face in his hands.  “It’s just - Leia’s still uncomfortable around me, even though she’s _trying_ , and I feel so bad for resenting her discomfort, and she’s my _sister_ and I just want someone _alive_ to care about me!”

Ben reached out, and looked mildly frustrated when he couldn’t pat Luke’s shoulder.   _Luke...perhaps you should return to Naboo.  I can keep an eye on Yoda until you are a bit more settled, and you can participate in a more hands-on part of the resistance._

Luke wiped away the tears that he refused to admit existed.  That was actually a really good idea.  “But Leia…”  Leia didn’t want him to leave the relative safety of the base.

_Hitch a ride with your friend Solo, he’d do a lot for you even if it was absolutely insane._  Ben began to fade from visibility.   _Reminds me of Master Jinn, actually…_

 

**Among Many Waters**

_-So, you’re saying that you not only helped shuttle Imperial enemies through Theed, but you made friends with the Gungans and have begun organizing an outright rebellion?-_

Luke rolled his eyes at Han’s rather dramatic message.  

-Not quite.  I was just helping out, and I found out about the old treaty, so I thought I may as well see what the Gungans thought of the Empire.-

_-And now you’re organizing a rebellion with a bunch of beings who live underwater on one of the most popular resort planets in the Empire.-_

-I...guess?-

_-Can you at least wait for the life-threatening parts till I’m there?  Princess’d kill me if I let you have all the fun._ -

Luke shook his head.  Only Han could make his slightly-irrational fear of Leia Organa’s wrath sound like a joke.

-Not planning any explosions any time soon.-  Luke returned, turning off his datapad.  Why Han only worried about what happened to _Luke_ , when the entire Solo clan was kicking up a fuss in Corellian space, Luke could not figure out.

Besides, the worst that had happened on Naboo in _years_ was the execution of the Queen over two decades ago.  The Naboo lay low for a _reason_ -

That, of course, was when a large explosion shook the entire Feel-Safe Campus.

Luke dashed out to the main fields, where Nala was urgently directing people to transport.  “What happened?”

Nala looked grim.  “The Impies found out that Kylantha has been harboring rebels.  Abhilasha’s been killed, and Madhuri’s been taken hostage by the Impies.  They’re bombing the palace, and there’s a whole force massing near the closest Gungan city.”

Luke paled.  Abhilasha Mairayni was the Princess of Theed, and the locally supported candidate to succeed Shailaya Kylantha as Queen of Naboo.  Madhuri Kylantha, a shy woman with a deep aversion to politics, was the Queen’s _wife_.

This was a disaster.

“Any word of Vader?” he asked.  It was the only possible thing that could make this _worse_.

Nala shook her head.

Relieved, Luke sprinted away, dipping into the Force for a bit of extra speed.  There weren’t any allies close enough to help, and the last thing that Naboo needed was for a native to be seen visibly attacking Imperials.  The only thing that the Imperials had against them was their lack of water equipment, or else the entire planet would have already been suppressed.

If there was one thing that Luke had learned after leaving Tatooine, it was that the precious resource of water was absolute _hell_ on all sorts of equipment.

Including weapons.

Luke changed directions, and stopped on the edge of the Virdugo Plunge.  The Imperials had planted their main base on the floodplain below Theed, which had the advantage of overlooking both a nearby Gungan city, and the river which led to Lake Paonga, the home of the main Gungan city.

The rivers of Naboo were controlled, peaceful rivers, even the four rivers which flowed through Theed and culminated in enormous waterfalls.  The floodplain had been dry and repossessed by spacecraft for centuries.

Water, Luke had learned early in his childhood, was particularly responsive to the Force.  Perhaps it has something to do with _flowing_.

Closing his eyes and opening every part of himself to the Force, Luke prayed that no innocents would be injured - and reached for the waters of Naboo.

Solleu

Andrevea

Chotinadi

Panisitara

Paonga

Lianorm

Lasay

Varum

Umberbūl

Ushasharma

Maunakesamudra

Yudhakesamudra

The Force _sang_ with the waters, roaring and twisting and _dancing_ like nothing that Luke had ever felt.  It was heady, like that wonderful moment when one has drunk too much alcohol but is not yet miserable.  He wanted - wanted - wanted -

This was not about want.  This was about freeing Naboo from the Empire.

_There is the floodplain_ , Luke thought, mentally pointing at the enormous Imperial base as it continued to target both Theed and the nearby Gungan city with bombs.   _This is where the water goes.  Where it wants to go.  Where the waters meet at last -_

That very last moment, pushing aside his _want,_ (to stay in this beautiful moment forever,) there was silence.

The waters whirled down new pathways.

Luke sank to his knees, and felt as if a planet full of people had trampled through his head.

Beneath him, glistening silently and innocently, lay Naboo’s newest sea.

 

**Author's Note:**

> The ONLY non-canonical characters in this fic are Madhuri Kylantha, Tutaana, and Nala Solo-Naberrie.
> 
> Bodies of water mentioned that are not canonical are named by way of Google Translate (Hindi and Nepali), random thought processes, and a list of Indian names. Most of the names are canonical, though.


End file.
